BetaNews Staff

A new strain of the Melissa macro virus is out there,
making the rounds the same way it did when it clobbered computer
systems worldwide nearly two years ago.

Except this time, the Melissa remake was hatched from a Macintosh,
said Patrick Martin, an anti-virus response manager with Internet security
provider Symantec, warning Mac and PC users to delete questionable
e-mails and maintain an up-to-date anti-virus product.

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What could have been a lengthy trial for a Canadian teen
hacker evaporated today when the youth known as "Mafiaboy" pleaded
guilty to charges that he broke into Internet servers and
used them as launching pads for attacks on high-profile Web sites.

The 16-year-old from Montreal, Quebec, was facing 66 charges of
mischief resulting from the attacks on sites that included
Amazon.com, CNN.com, Yahoo.com, and the Web home of computer maker
Dell. The teen, who can't be identified under Canadian law, had
earlier pleaded innocent, but Crown prosecutor Louis Miville-
Deschenes said today that "Mafiaboy" pleaded guilty to 55 of those
charges.

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Apple users have given a big
thumbs-up to MP3 music and increased control over the
technology they use to play the music they've bought - rushing
to download free CD ripping and burning software just released
by Apple.

Apple bills iTunes as free and easy-to-use -
"it lets you do the things your geekier friends are talking about."

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Streaming audio and video company
RealNetworks Inc. on Monday purchased Aegisoft Corp., a company that develops software to secure digital media files from pirates.

Rockville, MD-based Aegisoft makes secure digital media software
- software that can secure music or video files distributed over the
Internet from unauthorized copying.

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The latest online marriage joins clicks with
toy building bricks, as Microsoft Corp. and
family-owned Lego Co. announced a union to create Lego games and
content for Microsoft's MSN network and the recently unveiled
Xbox video game console.

The partnership is aimed at MSN's aggressive approach to contend
directly with America Online Inc. as a content
provider and furthers Lego's entry to the high-tech toy trend.

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Recline while online in a new chair that merges a favorite
position
in contemporary TV watching with the Internet.

La-Z-Boy and Microsoft's WebTV Networks Inc. developed the Explorer,
a recliner providing a comfy way to check and send e-mail, surf the Web
and play
around with interactive TV.

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Aiming to ensure that the powerful Recording Industry of America (RIAA)
is not the only voice considered in the upcoming regulatory debate over
digital music copying, MP3.com has filed its own comments with the US
Copyright Office, piggybacking on an earlier RIAA filing.

MP3.com officials want the US Copyright Office to draw a distinction -
for the purposes of royalty payments - between electronic copies of
previously purchased music and copies of music not paid for in advance.

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America Online's CompuServe subsidiary has introduced
the newest version of its CompuServe 2000 online service, upgrading
such features as e-mail and instant messaging, and providing better
tools for online shopping.

CompuServe added that its consumer electronics Rebate
Program - available at such retailers as Circuit City, Office Depot
and Sears, as well as from PC manufacturers HP, IBM, eMachines and
Gateway - has added more than 1.5 million new members to the
service in the year-and-a-half since its inception.

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MP3.com will take the wraps off a
next-generation version of music compression technology later today,
when it launches its Music InterOperating System (IOS).

Plans call for Music IOS to be announced at MP3.com's "Next
Generation of My.MP3" event, which opens today in San Diego. The
technology has been designed, the firm said, to connect various
segments of the music industry for the first time.

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The fourth quarter of 2000 was a time of heavy
casualties among dot-com companies, as some 210 such firms were
shuttered, wasting about $1.5 billion in investments, according to a
report released today.

Webmergers.com, a company that provides research and assistance to
dot-com firms trying to get to market, arrived at its latest estimates
based on ongoing reviews of about 50 publications and other private
sources, according to company President Tim Miller.

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A $5 billion class action lawsuit will reportedly be
filed today against Microsoft Corp. and founder
Bill Gates by a group of current and former employees who allege
the software titan engaged in job discrimination.

The complaint will be tabled on behalf of seven current and former
employees, and alleges discrimination by the company in evaluations,
compensation, promotions, wrongful termination and retaliation,
according to a Reuters report, which stated that Willie Gary, a
senior partner at the Florida-based law firm Gary, Williams,
Parenti, Finney, Lewis, McManus, Watson and Sperando, will file the
class action in US District Court for the District of Columbia.

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Computer Associates has issued the first virus
warning of 2001 to its customers, advising them of a low-to-medium
risk e-mail worm called Tqll-A.

Also known as VBS/Tqll-A, the virus is said to be the latest
MS-Outlook-based e-mail worm threat.

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The US government reportedly fears that tens of
thousands of computer systems may have been turned into
"zombies" waiting for commands from hackers to cripple the
Internet.

A report by United Press International said a top National
Security Council analyst, Richard Clark, special assistant to
the president for trans-national threats, said the explosion of
zombies makes it possible for hackers to launch an assault that
would make last February's denial-of-service attacks look
"fairly minor." The proliferation of digital subscriber lines
and cable modems means that more computers are "hard
wired" to the Web, making hacker access easier, UPI added.

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Companies competing with America Online in the growing instant messaging market segment are reportedly
making last-minute pitches to the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) for concessions in AOL's pending merger with
Time Warner.

An Associated Press report today said Microsoft Inc. Chairman Bill Gates is among those lobbying the
commission as it moves slowly toward finalizing the $111 billion
marriage. Other companies, including ExciteAtHome,
Microsoft and AT&T, are urging the agency to require AOL to work toward making its instant messaging service
compatible with their systems. The lobbyists want their users to
be able to send real-time messages to each other while using
different services, making instant messaging similar to how
users now communicate via different e-mail providers or complete
phone calls through more than one telephone network.

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At issue in the lawsuit, EMusic.com said, is the same online music
locker service that got San Diego, Calif.-based MP3.com in trouble
with the five major recording companies earlier this year. The
record companies successfully extracted multi-million-dollar
settlements from MP3.com after they complained the company
illegally copied their CDs to stock the music library of its
My.MP3.com service.

While four of the record companies settled out of court in pacts
that included licensing agreements thought to be valued in the
neighborhood of $20 million each, Universal Music stuck with its
case in a New York federal court and was awarded damages of more
than $53 million.

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